Job summary
NHFT is seeking General Practitioners to provide high-quality, trauma-informed primary care services at HMP Bedford.

You will work within a multidisciplinary team delivering integrated care across physical health, mental health and substance misuse to a population with complex and often unmet health needs.

Working Pattern / Sessions

• Core hours: 08:30 - 17:00 (weekday, on site)
• Additional sessions: Weekday evenings: 17:00 - 22:00 (on site), Saturdays: 14:00 - 18:00 (on site)
• Additional opportunities: Video consultations for late receptions, Cover for annual leave, training and partner sites

Main duties of the job

• Deliver primary care including acute, chronic disease, mental health and substance misuse
• Undertake reception screening and urgent care
• Work collaboratively and lead clinically within multi-disciplinary teams
• Participate in clinical governance, audit and quality improvement
• Support teaching and supervision

About us
NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools.We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning to improve the care and safety of our patients and staff, which focuses on people who enable our Trust to be 'outstanding' by supporting opportunity, innovation, development and growth.

Details
Date posted: 12 August 2026
Pay scheme: Hospital medical and dental staff
Grade: Consultant
Salary: £113,565 to £150,569 a year pa pro rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time
Reference number: 270-MED480
Job locations: HMP Bedford, Bedford, MK40 1HG, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
For full details please read the attached job description or alternatively contact the team for more information

Person Specification
Knowledge and Experience
Essential

• Evidence of being on the GMC General Practitioner Register and on an NHS Performers' List
• Clinical experience including work with vulnerable populations and patients with substance misuse problems. RCGP Part 1 Substance Misuse Certificate essential
• Experience of multi-professional teamwork and an understanding of what makes teams function effectively
• Familiarity with tools for effective clinical governance and quality improvement
• Ability to be intellectually flexible and to look beyond existing structures and ways of working, boundaries, organizations, and systems to build effective partnerships and innovation in general practice and advanced clinical practice service delivery

Behaviours and Values
Essential

• Willing to ensure the development, maintenance, and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in internal and external CPD, training and development programmes.
• Willing to comply with professional codes of practice and maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies, and issues in relation to primary care, substance misuse and mental health services within secure settings, through engagement in health and justice clinical networks and communities of practice and with operational colleagues.
• Reliable and accessible to colleagues within HMP Bedford and the Secured Services Directorate
• Willing to embrace a trauma-informed approach, modelling empathy, a willingness to listen to the views of others, an open communication style, and receptivity to feedback.
• Able to lead with compassion and humility, to demonstrate integrity, and to motivate, inspire and empower both individual colleagues and teams, fostering a culture in which hope, kindness, resilience, and excellence thrive
• Able to work as part of a team and within a leadership structure.

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Ability to prioritize effectively, to work in a flexible way, and to respond to change to support the needs of patients within an evolving staffing structure at HMP Bedford
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and teamwork skills that align with the trauma-informed values of Secured Services
• The ability to lead others and work within a leadership structure with discernment and integrity to ensure that professional and business decisions can be made that reflect the values of NHFT.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues including those working for subcontracted services and across other disciplines
• Experience of teaching, mentoring or supervision of clinical colleagues. Tier 2 or Tier 3 Educator status is desirable but not essential as Tier 2 training can be facilitated as part of CPD
• Ability to assimilate data to support effective clinical governance and quality improvement of general practice and senior clinical service provision
• Ability to communicate information in a range of formats including one-to-one meetings, formal and informal meetings, written reports and electronic communication including small databases
• Ability to provide trauma-informed clinical care, including when faced with challenging behaviour and the constraints of secured settings

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name: Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust
Address: HMP Bedford, Bedford, MK40 1HG, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.nhft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Deputy Medical Director
Dr Caroline Watson
caroline.watson@nhft.nhs.uk

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.